


Inventor's Children

by FrozenSeas, MultiShipping_Trash, ShadowTrooper1414



Series: Because MCU Isn't Complicated Enough [3]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: F/F, Gen, M/M, Midoriya Izuku Has a Quirk, Midoriya Izuku is Tony Stark's Son, Midoriya Izuku is a Ray of Sunshine, Parent Tony Stark, Tony Stark Has A Heart
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-17
Updated: 2020-11-29
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:40:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 17,365
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26503036
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FrozenSeas/pseuds/FrozenSeas, https://archiveofourown.org/users/MultiShipping_Trash/pseuds/MultiShipping_Trash, https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShadowTrooper1414/pseuds/ShadowTrooper1414
Summary: Paladium poisoning was a problem. One Tony Stark couldn't seem to find the answer to.And so Tony wanted to spend as much time with his son Izuku as he could before his time ran out. He had maybe a year to spend with him, and he was going to make it as good as possible.Unfortunately it seemed Ivan Vanko didn't get that memo.(Takes place during and around the events of Iron Man 2)
Relationships: Clint Barton & Midoriya Izuku, Clint Barton/Tony Stark, Midoriya Izuku & Tony Stark, Pepper Potts/Natasha Romanov
Series: Because MCU Isn't Complicated Enough [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1858798
Comments: 19
Kudos: 88





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! So thanks to the lovely commenters on Don't Waste Your Life I decided I'd edit at least a little of what we've got so far for IM2 for all of you to see. We're still working on it, so updates may be a bit slow, but I felt you all deserved at least a little teaser of what we've got planned for this :P -Frozen

/// March 5th, 2010

A few months after the events with Stane was the next time Tony could manage to get away from SI business for long enough to travel. Cleaning up big messes was time-consuming, who knew. Besides, this was going to be his third trip leaving his live-in security behind. He and JARVIS were both still suspicious and monitoring everything carefully.

Also, he was dying. 

So there was that.

Getting one’s affairs in order was a messy business. He’d made Pepper CEO, and spent time making sure she could handle it, dropping down to the head of R&D. He’d kept his majority shares, however.  _ Those _ would pass to his son. Along with everything else.

He’d brought his will and accompanying paperwork to set Inko up as the trustee for their son’s inheritance. There was a small fortune set aside for her own personal use, obviously, in addition to another lump sum set aside to pay any and all outstanding debts she had. He wanted them both  _ well _ taken care of after he was no longer around to do so.

Inko had the day off, so she was home and making tea when Tony showed up. Looking forward to sitting down and chatting face to face for the first time in a bit with him. Unknowing of the heavy topic Tony would be bringing up when he'd talk with her that day.

Tony knocked on the door, trying to put on a happy face. 

How the hell did you break to the mother of your child that you wouldn’t be around for the major milestones in his life that you’d wanted to? If he was  _ lucky _ , he’d be around for Izuku’s 8th birthday. Maybe. There was a surgery to remove the shrapnel that made him need the reactor, but even that already risky surgery was complicated by his current predicament. 

Palladium poisoning. 

Not a thing meant to go in the body of a human, but he hadn’t had an alternative if he wanted to live. And now the thing that kept him alive was going to cause his death. 

At least he’d had the chance to meet and get to know Izuku.

"Coming!" Inko called out from within the house as she set the tray of tea on the coffee table. She then went over and opened the door for Tony and gestured him inside. "Hi, Tony." She said with a smile. "I made tea if you'd like some, it's in the living room." She paused, taking in his expression. "You doing okay?"

Tony stepped inside, taking his shoes off almost automatically. “Tea sounds fantastic.” He replied with a smile. “I’m… okay, just a lot going on. It’s nice to get away and come see you both.” It was a lame copout, and he knew it, but he didn’t want to spring that on her when he’d just walked through the door. Now the question was  _ how _ to tell her. For a so-called genius, he had no ideas.

Inko closed the door behind Tony and hummed. "I'm happy to hear coming out here is more of a getaway. Again, you're welcome whenever you want Tony." She led him into the living room and sat down on couch, leaving space next to her. "Izuku has been a lot happier since you started spending time with him. And he's such a happy kid already I didn't even think that was possible."

Tony went and sat by Inko, considering. “He’s a sweet kid. Never seems to let anything get to him.” He realized he might have a way to gently broach the subject. “He’s… still at school, right?”

Inko poured some tea into a cup, handing one to Tony before taking her own and sipping it. "Never seems to, no." She said in agreement. She nodded gently, "He is. Should be home in an hour or so."

Tony sighed. “I did have something I wanted to talk to you about. As you probably know, I’ve had… a few close calls over the past year. Honestly, I just wanted to make sure you’re both taken care of, in case my luck doesn’t last.” He offered her some of the paperwork, in regards to what Izuku would inherit when/if he should die. “Obviously he won’t be expected to move to America, or be involved in the company in any way if he doesn’t want to. The shares in it can be sold if that’s what you or he want to do.” Tony tried to rush the explanation a bit, admittedly. He included a copy of his official (notarized) will in the paperwork, but didn’t comment on anything he’d left for her.

Inko blinked rapidly, taking the paperwork into her hands. She skimmed through it, a concerned expression coming onto her face. "That's…" She took a breath, "It's good to be prepared for this sort of thing." She looked him over, "Close calls usually make someone think about getting their affairs in order with their will and such. But…" She set the papers in her lap for a moment, watching his expression carefully. "Is there something else going on? You seem… rushed to get this done Tony."

Tony probably paled a bit. This wasn’t the way he’d wanted to say it, but he supposed it was easier to just get it out. “I….” He sighed. “I’m dying. Side effect of my…” He tapped his arc reactor. “There’s a surgery I could get to make it unnecessary, but even without the… complications from it, chances of me surviving are at… 40%? With said complications, they drop down to 20%. Maybe less. I’m looking for other options, and I’ll go through with it anyway if there’s no other way, but… Chances aren’t great.”

Inko sucked in a breath. She looked down at the papers and set them aside for a moment before slowly attempting a hug, not sure if it would be welcome. "I'm sorry Tony. That's… at least you have some time to prepare? Not everyone has that." She said gently. "I know it's hard though… What… what's the timeline? Do you know?"

Tony calmly accepted the hug, having processed the fact that he was dying already. That didn’t mean he’d accepted it, hell no, but he’d realized it wasn’t going to change. He sighed. This was the part he was  _ really _ not looking forward to. “At the rate it’s progressing, I have about a year. If I’m lucky, I’ll make it to his 8th birthday…” he trailed off. That was the part that  _ really _ hurt. He had to decide between a surgery that had an 80% chance of killing him  _ now _ , or trying to hold out until the surgery was no longer a viable option, to have as much time as he could with his only child.

Inko tightened her hold on him for a moment before pulling back to look Tony in the eyes. "Only a year…" She took another deep breath and offered a slight smile, "Then let's make it a good one, okay? Spend however much time you want, and can, with him while you can. We can… figure out some way to let him see you more often during the school year too."

/// March 15th, 2010

Almost two weeks later, Tony was on the phone with Izuku (through JARVIS), when he was in his workshop. It was early in California, but right about the time Izuku would be getting home in Japan.

“So kid, how’s school going? Keeping up alright?” Tony asked.

"Yep!" Izuku replied happily. "I'm acing all of my classes right now, and am actually kind of ahead of everyone? I've been doing the reading way ahead of time. Everything is  _ suuuper  _ easy for me right now."

Tony grinned. “Good, I’m glad to hear it. Want to skip a few days and come out to California?” He offered. “I’ll clear it with your mom first, obviously.” He reassured, knowing that would be Izuku’s primary objection if he didn’t. Plus it gave him a break while the transfer was finalized.

Izuku blinked rapidly, "I can… do that?" He asked, having previously thought he needed to wait till the school gave him time off to be able to go see his dad. "I- I'd like that, yeah. If mom's okay with it."

Tony shrugged, though Izuku wouldn’t be able to see it. “Yeah, I don’t see why not.” He motioned for JARVIS to send a message to Inko about it, so she could have to opportunity to veto it or agree to it while they were still on the phone.

"Okay." Izuku replied, a smile coming to his face. "Getting to see you again will be fun."

Despite being at work, Inko responded with an affirmative after only a minute or two. She had basically resolved to let Tony visit with him whenever the request came now, so she didn't even really need to think about it.

Tony smiled at the affirmative from Inko. “Your mom says it’s okay. Obviously we don’t want to make a habit of you skipping school, but this time can be an exception. If I send the jet for you now, it will probably get there tomorrow morning, and you’ll probably be here tomorrow evening. Does that sound okay?” He asked.

"Mhm!" Izuku replied with a nod, though Tony couldn't see it. "I'll start packing in just a second then. Um… how many days?" He asked, trying to figure out what he'd need to bring. He'd also want to call Kaede if she didn't come over that night so she knew what was happening.

Tony blinked. Today was… Monday, if he recalled correctly. Ass o’clock on Monday morning for him, but still Monday. “If you want to stay for the week, that’s fine by me.” He said breezily. “We’ll have you back in time for school next week.” He added.

Izuku smiled wider at that. "That sounds nice! I'll um… I'll pack for the week then." He replied, "I love you, Dad. See you soon."

Tony grinned. Love you too, kid. I’ll see you tomorrow.” When they hung up the call, he quickly made the arrangement for the jet to leave as soon as possible to get him. He then went back to the project he was working on. He hadn’t slept in… Probably 24 hours. But he was fine. He had inspiration flowing. He could nap later.

Clint went down to the lab, correct about his guess as to where Stark was. He had a plate of breakfast in one hand and some water in the other. He tapped on the glass door with his foot. He couldn’t exactly get in with both hands occupied.

JARVIS opened the door for Clint, as Tony was otherwise occupied. 

Tony barely even acknowledged he was there, focused as he was on…. Whatever the bits and pieces of hologram scattered about were going to make. They  _ had _ been a new gauntlet design, but that was too unwieldy, so he was experimenting to see if something else could be made from it.

“Yo, Boss, I brought breakfast,” Clint said, walking over to Stark’s desk. He placed the plate and water down where it would be noticed but not interfere with what Stark was working on. Looking at the schematics, Clint hummed. “Having trouble?”

Tony made a noise of… sort of acknowledgment… when Clint spoke, glaring at the hologram like he’d like it to put itself together. He grumped at the hologram. He looked up, blinking repeatedly at the sight of another person in his workshop. “Wh-? When did you get here?”

“Just now,” Clint said, still looking at the hologram. He hummed. “Maybe… you could make a shock feature or something?”

Tony blinked rapidly, rearranging elements of the hologram and drawing new ones to replace the old. He reassembled the gauntlet, slipping his arm in to see how it looked. “Still a bit bulkier than is practical…” He muttered, thinking. He removed his arm from the hologram, disassembling it and rearranging it again. 

He eyed it critically, spinning one of the pieces idly. “Too much energy output.”

“This is starting to get out of my paygrade,” Clint said, a sigh in his tone. He shook his head, then looked at Stark. “I’m going to be in my room exercising for a bit. Make sure you eat. And get some rest. It’s not my job to protect a corpse.”

Tony eyed Clint for a minute, before reforming the pieces into a bow. “Hm. I like that better, actually.” He noted. He knew the man used one, and honestly, he just wanted to see how he’d react. “By the way, we’re going to have a guest this week. Remember that NDA you had to sign?  _ This _ is what it was for.” He informed him. “Aside from the obvious, anyway.”

Clint paused in leaving at seeing what Stark reconstructed it into. He grabbed the hologram carefully, then went into a shooting pose. He hummed. “It’ll be a bit hefty in the wrist, but most quality bows are. The tensile strength of the string should probably be more than most.” He let the hologram go closer to the desk, then looked at Stark. “Interesting. Should I be worried?”

Tony considered the hologram again. “With the functions already added in, you should be able to add an electrical charge to your arrows if you want. I know, I know, you handle your own arrows, and you’ve got EMP arrows, but EMPs are so  _ boring _ . And limited.” Tony stepped over to where he’d left the plate, curious. “Not exactly? From what you’ve said you’ve got a decent handle on dealing with kids…” He trailed off, watching for a reaction. 

“I’ll consider it,” Clint said. Electrical weapons weren’t really his department. He’d have to ask Nat how to do it if he did. He raised an eyebrow at Stark. “Kids? I didn’t take you for the kid type, Stark.”

“Normally? You’d be right. The circumstances surrounding this one were… less than ideal, but I decided to take a chance and get to know him after I survived Afghanistan. I’m glad I did.” He admitted.

Clint hummed. “Well, better late than never, I suppose. I’ll see you in a few hours when I force you to go to bed. And that food and water both need to be gone when I come back.” With that, he turned and left the lab.

Tony (very maturely) stuck his tongue out at Clint’s retreating back. “What are you going to do if it’s  _ not _ ? Spank me?” He called after him, honestly enjoying having someone around he could say things like that to. He’d always had to moderate himself around Pepper because it made her uncomfortable.

“Maybe!” Clint called back. “You’ll just have to see!” He shook his head, sighing. He went back up to his room to get started on his morning routine.

A slight shiver went down Tony’s spine at the response, but he shook his head. He really  _ was _ hungry, and it was best not to push the other man too far. He didn’t want to try to force anything.

As it turned out, Clint didn’t have to do much of anything. By the time he came back downstairs, Tony was sound asleep on the couch in his lab, purposely placed just for late-night crashes.

Clint snorted at seeing Stark passed out on the couch once he came down after his post-exercise shower. The couch couldn’t be comfortable, though, so he hefted Stark into his arms, then carried him up to the master bedroom - with a bit of difficulty. Why the hell did Stark have so many stairs?

Clint got the man situated into his bed, then sighed. He’d have to go about his usual security checks before he did anything else.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Izuku makes it to California and meets Clint Barton for the first time in person. Plus, Pepper shows up with an unexpected guest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more update for you all since this chapter is done and shouldn't need anymore tweaking lol. I almost included it with the first chapter, but I figured that would've made it a bit too long.

/// March 16th, 2010

In the afternoon the next day, Izuku arrived in California. 

As usual, Happy picked him up from the airport and brought him to the mansion where he helped get his bags out of the car, before getting back in it and waiting for Izuku to go inside before driving off once again. 

Izuku reached out towards the door, with Jarvis unlocking it for him as soon as he touched the handle. He entered and called into the house to announce his presence. "I'm here!" He called. He didn't know if Clint was going to know about him being Tony's son, so he'd just avoid calling him Dad until he knew for sure.

Tony looked up from his work at Izuku’s voice. He was actually in his office dealing with paperwork for once, rather than in his workshop, and had on a pair of reading glasses. He set aside the contract renewal he was looking over (giving a certain store permission to sell StarkPhones) and stood. He poked his head out, momentarily forgetting about the glasses. “Hey kid.” He greeted warmly.

Clint poked his head out of the kitchen at the unfamiliar voice. It was their new guest, then. Clint was working on a late lunch, so he quickly returned to that. The kid must be hungry since the flight had been so long.

Izuku slipped his shoes off and left them and his bags at the door for the moment. He blinked at the glasses, but rushed over to give Tony a hug nonetheless. "Hi." He said, looking up at Tony with a bright smile. He glanced in the direction of the kitchen, hearing Clint moving around in there, before looking up at Tony again. "Um… does he know who I am?" He asked.

Tony returned the hug, picking Izuku up off the floor. “Well, I think you’ve grown a bit since I saw you last.” He teased. “How tall are you now?” At the question, he nodded. “Yeah, he knows.” He reassured him. “Made sure to tell him you were coming.”

"Not sure, but still shorter than Kacchan." Izuku replied, melting into his father's arms. He hummed, "Love you, Dad." He said quietly, now knowing he could say that even with Clint there.

Tony snorted. “Well that’s not such a bad person to be shorter than, is it?” He asked, ruffling Izuku’s hair. “Let’s go see what’s for lunch. I bet you’re hungry after that flight.” He headed towards the kitchen, still carrying Izuku.

Clint looked up at Stark as he entered the kitchen. “Glad to see you out of the lab before evening hours, Boss. Did you eat the breakfast I dropped off this morning?”

Izuku nodded, "I had some snacks on the jet, but I'm hungry again. Slept too, but it's weird because of the time change. I left like a full day ago, but it's basically the same time I left here." He rested his cheek against his father's chest as they entered the kitchen, offering a small wave as he looked at Clint.

Tony snorted. “I do, unfortunately, have paperwork and sh-- stuff, to get to. Otherwise I could easily spend all day in there.” He blinked at the reminder of food. “Yeah, I did. Thanks.” He used his free hand to ruffle Izuku’s hair. “Well, food first, then you can sleep off the jetlag, okay kid?”

Clint gave Izuku a small wave. “Hey, Green Bean. Making something that should help you feel more at home here - grilled fish, miso soup, and fried rice. It’s not much, but I had buri shipped in from Japan when I heard about you arriving. With my own money, of course.” He looked at Stark. “Good. And you should get your paperwork done. You’ll have tomorrow completely off to spend with your kid if you get it done today.”

Izuku grinned hearing both what Clint was making, and the fact that he spoke Japanese. "That sounds yummy. Thank you!" He cheered. He wasn't sure how good it'd turn out to be, considering what Japanese food he'd tried in America so far had been edible but not exactly what he'd want when craving food from home. Homemade could be a different story though.

He hummed a moment before saying. "Oh! Um… I dunno if Dad told you my name. I'm Izuku. Midoriya Izuku." He offered. "You're… Cooper's uncle, aren't you?" Izuku asked. He was 99% sure he was right at this point, but figured it would be a good idea to check.

Tony snickered. “That’s some pressure. Getting your Japanese-style cooking judged by someone from Japan.” He frowned slightly at Clint making a point of that he used his own money. “JARVIS set you up with an account for household expenses, didn’t he? For you to use while you’re here?” He asked. He thought he’d made a note of that on his to do list, hadn’t he? Or was his memory going already?

“He did, don’t worry, Boss - I just didn’t want to use it on something as simple as this,” Clint said. Plus, he liked pulling Fury’s strings by using SHIELD to do things like this. The irritated message Fury had sent him was beyond hilarious. To Izuku, he said, in Japanese, “Nice to meet you. And yeah, I’m Cooper’s uncle - he’s talked a lot about you. He’s really excited to see you again.

Izuku's grin brightened. "I'm excited too. Cooper's  _ super  _ cool. Plus it's nice having a friend other than Kacchan." He paused before muttering to himself, "There's Tesaki and Tsubasa too I guess but I don't think they'd say I'm their friend. Kirin definitely wouldn't…" He shook his head lightly and looked up towards his dad, poking the side of his glasses slightly. "Are you supposed to wear those all the time?"

Tony snorted. There was some reasoning there he didn’t know yet, but as long as it amused him, he wasn’t about to push it. He grinned. “Cooper’s the kid you met at the museum, right?” He asked, already figuring that’s who it was. At the question, he blinked. “Nah, these are just for reading. Especially small print, like for legal documents.” He rolled his eyes theatrically. “Contracts exist to torture people.”

Clint hummed. “Glad you like him.” He finished the food quickly, then put it into dishes. He looked at Stark with a smirk. “You look good in those. It’s making me think you should do paperwork more often.”

"Mhm! Cooper I met at the museum. We've been emailing since. It's helping me learn english a bit faster that way too." Izuku replied with a nod. He let go of Tony, waiting to be put down so he could eat. "So… shouldn't you take them off when you're not reading with them?" Izuku asked, curious. "I thought that hurts your eyes." He glanced at Clint, seeing the smirk he tilted his head slightly but didn't comment.

Tony snorted. “I don’t know about hurting my eyes.” He grinned in Clint’s direction. “Are those… do I see a  _ dimple _ ?” He teased, making a show of looking with his glasses and without them. He moved to set Izuku down, pulling the glasses off and sliding them into his shirt pocket.

Clint felt his face go red, his smirk becoming a shy smile. “Ah, maybe.” He set the trays of food on the table, then cleared his throat. “I… am going to go grab Izuku’s bags and put them in his room. I’ll be back in a few moments.”

Izuku blinked at the two adult's interaction. Did they… like each other? He shrugged it off for the moment, deciding he'd maybe ask Clint later. He sat down at the table, smiling at the aroma from the food. It certainly  _ smelled  _ like the food from home at least.

Tony smirked widely. “Need a minute to recover, there, Barton?” He called after him as he left the room, before sitting by Izuku.

“Be quiet, Stark,” Clint snapped, but it wasn’t with any heat. He took a deep breath, then went to grab Izuku’s bags. Once he was situated with them, he dragged them up the stairs to put them in Izuku’s room.

"Itadakimasu." Izuku said, before taking a bite of the food Clint had prepared, ignoring the adults teasing each other. His eyes widened slightly with a small smile coming to his face as he ate, humming happily. The food Clint had made tasted  _ amazing,  _ and just like it'd be if he had it from home. Even the miso soup, which he had found they tended to really mess up somehow at the places in america he'd tried.

Tony snorted, digging into his own food. “So how’s it stack up, kid?” He asked, amused by Izuku’s reaction. “Pretty well, I’m guessing, judging by that smile.” He watched the door idly for Clint coming back. “So you figured out he was your friend’s uncle, I take it?”

"It's  _ super good."  _ Izuku said happily between bites. "It's almost as good as Mama's." He noted. 

He nodded to Tony's question. "I kinda figured it out when you sent me the list of people. His family name is the same, Cooper had mentioned his Uncle Clint a lot, and they look related." He explained. "Plus, he just… seemed the nicest out of who you sent anyway?"

Tony snorted. “That’s a pretty big compliment, comparing it to your mom’s.” He noted. Blinking, he tilted his head. “Seemed the nicest? How so?” He asked, genuinely curious.

Izuku bit his lip, trying to think of how to explain it. "It's… um… their picture, and their background. The first one you sent felt… suspicious. Something didn't add up in the background summary and they had a look to their eyes." He said. "I don't know how to explain it exactly, but… all the villains I've seen had a certain… look in their eye? That person had it. Stane had it too." 

"The other ones weren't as bad. Their eyes reminded me more of some heroes. Though… more… Endeavor like than All Might like I guess?" Izuku continued, still trying to figure out how to explain properly. "They all seemed like they'd fought villains before, but Barton-san's look just seemed… the nicest. So I thought I'd feel the comfiest around him out of who you sent."

Tony blinked, taking a minute to process Izuku’s explanation. He knew who Endeavor was, and it was impossible  _ not _ to know All Might with his son being who he was. So he could sort of see the comparison. Though someone who reminded the kid of Endeavor, especially with his knack for property destruction, admittedly wasn’t someone he wanted around his kid. “So what about the one you said a hard no to? Jasper something? Was that something similar?”

"That's the one with the villain look in their eye. Like… their eyes are closer to Endeavor's, but there's… something else there. It's hard to explain." Izuku said, shivering slightly as he remembered it. "I… would've hid whenever he was around if you'd picked him. I've run into plenty of villains, even when they're not in the middle of committing a crime, and…" He sighed and took another bite of his food before turning towards Tony again, "When I saw that one I made sure Jarvis knew not to let you pick him, 'cause I didn't want something like what Stane did to happen again."

Tony hummed in thought. A villain, huh? Definitely one to look into, then. Dirt was always useful to keep people in line, after all. It was just a matter of  _ finding _ it. Everyone had it, even someone like Inko. He paused his thoughts momentarily. “You’ve… run into villains?”

Izuku blinked, realizing Tony apparently hadn't been told about his tendency to run into villains accidentally (or on purpose for his notes). "... N-No..?" He started, with a sheepish smile, "Well um… I mean… yes, b-but I've never gotten hurt or anything. I just um…" He fidgeted with the chopsticks he had been eating with, "I've been told I kinda… attract them I guess?"

Tony stared at Izuku for a long minute. Blinking slowly, he shook his head, “And how many of those times were on purpose on your part?” He asked. He knew the look and tone of doing things he knew he’d get in trouble for later all too well.

"Um… a couple…" Izuku admitted quietly, dropping his gaze down. "My notes are easier to write if I see the fights in person so um…"

Tony raised an eyebrow. “So you purposely track down villains for your notes?” He asked. “Does your mother know you do this?”

"N-Not all the time. Most of the time it  _ is  _ an accident when I find them but um… I… Have…" Izuku said. He bit his lip and glanced up at Tony, scrunching up his shoulders before shaking his head.

Tony exhaled slowly. “You had no plans to tell her, either, did you?” He asked calmly. “Does your friend Kaede at least know? I’d hate to think of something happening to you and no one knowing where you were or what was going on.”

Tears pricked the corners of Izuku's eyes as he shook his head again. He took a slightly shaky breath, "K-Kacchan knows when I've done it." He replied, "And Kacchan knows the routes I take home when I walk, so they know where I am usually."

Tony gave a slight huff. “Well, you should at least tell your mother. Or make sure your friend goes with you, just in case something happens. I know there’s very little that will dissuade you from doing it, so at least be safe about it.”

"Okay… I- I'm sorry, Dad." Izuku replied, rubbing the tears out of his eyes. "I… I didn't um…" He sniffled and frowned at himself. Why did he have to cry so much? "W-Would it help if I brought Jarvis along, too?" He asked.

Tony pulled Izuku into a hug when he started crying, stroking his hair lightly. “Bringing J along would be a good start, yes.” He agreed. “I know, you kept it from her because you didn’t want to worry her. But part of being a hero, like All Might, is letting people know where you are and what you’re doing so that they can come help you if you run into trouble.”

Clint got everything situated in Izuku’s room with the help of JARVIS. He came back downstairs and looked between the two Starks. “Hey, Boss. Do you want me to do a perimeter check since your kid is here now? Just to make sure no one followed him?”

Izuku nodded against his father's chest gently, leaning into the touch. He could hear the faint hum of the arc reactor, and it was both comforting and not to hear since it covered the sound of Tony's heartbeat to an extent. He shifted his head to look at Clint a bit. Izuku bit his lip to keep quiet. It made sense to do a perimeter check anyway, he  _ was _ the security for the house, but he wasn't sure how to explain that he'd been paranoid and looked for that sort of thing when he showed up and didn't notice anything. So, instead he stayed quiet. Checking wouldn't hurt.

Tony blinked, looking up at Clint and nodding slightly. “Sure, why not.” He squeezed Izuku in a light side-hug, He wondered if Clint would know any of the others who applied, but that wasn’t exactly something to ask in Izuku’s earshot. It was his job to be paranoid about people, not his kid’s.

Clint glanced between Stark and Izuku, absently wondering if he’d interrupted something. He gestured towards the food. “That better be done by the time I’m back, Boss - yours at least. Make sure Green Bean gets in bed, too.” With that, he left the kitchen again to go check the house for any unwanted guests.

Izuku pulled away from his dad slowly, so he could finish eating his food. He was just about to take his last bite when JARVIS announced the arrival of Ms. Potts and a guest. Izuku's eyes widened slightly, and not knowing if this guest was someone who was allowed to know about him, he quickly finished his food before practically disappearing suddenly. 

Completely silently, Izuku moved quickly away from the table and opened the cabinet with the pots and pans before crawling in to hide behind them. 

Tony finished his own food with a fond eyroll, before getting up to do the dishes. He looked around for Izuku, eyes narrowed. “Kid?” He questioned, confused as to why he’d disappeared.

Clint had been quick yet thorough in his search. By the time he got back to the front door, however, two women were standing there - and one he recognized.

“Nat?”

The redhead looked over. She smiled slightly. “Hey Clint, been a while. How are Laura and the kids?”

“They’re doing fine - adjusting well to the house, I’d say,” Clint said. He looked to the other woman. He held a hand out to shake. “Hi, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Clint Barton. I’m assuming you’re Pepper Potts? Boss had a brief meet-up with you planned today. You’re a bit early, though.”

Izuku stayed quiet in his hiding spot. He was still wearing his watch though, so he quickly tapped on it before typing a message for Jarvis to give to his Dad. Simply, "Hiding."

Tony shook his head slightly. “You don’t need to hide, kid. This is your house too.” Though the fact that Pepper had someone with her  _ was _ mildly concerning, especially without warning. Maybe it was better for him to not be seen, at least until he figured out who this was. “We’ve got a few minutes, why don’t we head up to your room so you can  _ sleep _ ?”

Pepper blinked, glancing at who must be Tony’s new security. She shook his hand firmly. He was  _ definitely _ Tony’s type. This would be interesting. “Indeed I am.” She confirmed. “Jarvis noted that he was actually out of his lab for a change, so I figured this would be a good time to catch him before he disappeared down there again.”

Clint chuckled. “I managed to coerce him out for a late lunch, but his inventing binges are… something.” He glanced at Natasha. “How did you two meet?”

Natasha looked between Clint and Pepper. “Dating app. I figured it’d be nice to try looking for someone. We clicked. It was nice.”

“I see,” Clint said, smirking with his eyes. They were definitely going to talk later. “We should get inside while Boss is still upstairs.”

Izuku bit his lip, before silently moving to open the cabinet door and peek out. He wasn’t so sure he should be spotted yet, but if his dad said to come out he figured he should.

Pepper raised an eyebrow. “So how do  _ you two _ know each other?” She asked, curious. Natasha hadn’t mentioned knowing Tony’s new security.

Tony spotted the door open, and scooped Izuku up out of the cupboard. “I think you’re gonna need a nap soon anyway, so let’s get you up to bed. You can meet Pepper later.” He said softly. He carried Izuku up to his room.

“We met a few years back,” Natasha said. “Clint and his sister were in an unfortunate situation. The company I worked for managed to help them get back on their feet. We became friends.”

“I’d like to think we’re more than just friends, Nat,” Clint chuckled. “Laura’s kids  _ literally _ call you their aunt.”   
  
“So they do,” Natasha said. She looked at Pepper, smiling. “We should get inside, though.”

“Okay…” Izuku replied quietly, letting Tony pick him up. He opened his mouth to argue he wasn’t tired, before getting cut off with a small yawn. So much for that. He melted into Tony and let his eyes shut, he doubted he could fight it now.

Tony headed up the stairs. Once he was in Izuku’s room and couldn’t be seen, JARVIS unlocked and opened the door for their guests. Meanwhile, Tony settled Izuku down on his bed and pulled the blankets up over him. “Get some sleep, kiddo. I’ll see you when you wake up.” He said, ruffling Izuku’s hair. “Do you want your All Might plush?”

Pepper eyed the door. Usually JARVIS was quicker than this. There’s no way he didn’t know they were here. What was Tony hiding? “And there’s our welcome mat.” She noted.

Clint laughed a bit awkwardly. He led the two women into the house. “Right, let’s go. I’ll get you situated in the living room. I think Boss needed to grab something upstairs, he should be down in a moment. Is there anything I can get you?”

“Water is fine for me,” Natasha said.

Izuku nodded gently, leaning slightly into Tony’s hand. “Yes please.”

Tony went and got the plush, handing it to Izuku before sitting on the edge of the bed. He ruffled Izuku’s hair again, gently. “Night Izuku.” He said quietly.

Pepper glanced up the stairs briefly, but didn’t see anything. Figuring it was just a Tony thing, she let it go. It wasn’t what they were there for, anyway.

Clint nodded, then took Pepper and Natasha to the living room. He directed them to sit, then left to grab water from the kitchen.

“Night Dad.” Izuku replied, clutching his plush to his chest. “Love you.”

Tony hesitantly gave Izuku a light kiss on the forehead. Dads did that, right? Especially dads with affectionate children. “Love you too.” He replied, before standing up to head downstairs.

Pepper smiled slightly. Now she was curious as to how Tony would interact with Mr. Barton. If she was correct, she could tease him about this for a  _ while _ .

Natasha turned to Pepper, grinning slightly. “How much do you want to bet that they’ll get together in less than a month?”

Izuku smiled at the forehead kiss before rolling over to sleep as Tony left. It didn’t take very long for him to fall asleep with a small smile on his face.

Pepper snickered. “I’d give it about a week, honestly.  _ Maybe _ two if Tony is  _ really _ trying for restraint.”

“Restraint? What’s that?” Tony shot back, walking into the room. “Hey Pep. Who’s your friend?”

Natasha looked over when Tony spoke. She smiled just brightly enough for it to be polite. “Natasha Rushman.” Quieter, she said. “I can see why Clint would go for him. He’s not bad on the eyes.”

Pepper snorted at Natasha’s comment. “He does have that going for him.” She agreed. “ The only question is if he can handle the snark.” A bit louder, she teasingly noted to Tony, “Probably something you should be a little better acquainted with.”

Tony blinking, sensing something slightly off about her, but kept it to himself for now. He rolled his eyes fondly at Peppers jab. “Well that just sounds boring.” He responded.

“He can, don’t worry,” Natasha said. She stood and held a hand out to Tony. “Nice to meet you. Pepper talks a lot about you. Well, complains, but it’s mostly the same thing.”

Clint re-entered the living room then, setting the glass of water on the coffee table. He grinned at Stark. “No one nearby but these two.”

Pepper pouted at that comment, elbowing Natasha playfully.

Tony shook Natasha’s hand, grinning. “Well it’s not like I don’t give her plenty to complain about. Honestly I’m almost surprised she has time to meet people with how busy she’s always saying she is.” He grinned at Clint. “Are we sure I’m the only one who needs glasses, Barton?” He teased.

“I was told that it was a certain someone who kept suggesting she meet people,” Natasha said with a knowing look. She moved to be sitting close to Pepper again.

“Oh, shut it, Stark,” Clint said, rolling his eyes good-naturedly. “They had just gotten there when I finished my perimeter check.” He sighed, then looked at Stark properly. “Anything else you need me to do, Boss?”

Tony smirked at Pepper. “Oh,  _ now _ you take my advice.” He looked over at Clint. “Not that I can think of, just make sure  _ you _ eat something too.” He replied.

Pepper raised an eyebrow. “When you give good advice, yes, I do.” She remarked.

Tony feigned an injury, “staggering” back a step. “You  _ wound _ me, Pep.” He teased.

“I ate before you did, don’t worry,” Clint said. He hummed in thought for a moment, then sat next to Natasha. “So, how’s life, Nat?”

“It’s life,” Natasha said, sipping her water. “Work’s been going good. Got a new assignment from my boss.”

Clint adjusted slightly, hiding any reaction he had. “Oh yeah?”

“Yeah, we’re working on a large coding project for this bigshot engineer,” Natasha said. “I think I might have met him? Something Smith. I’m a bit stuck with figuring out how he wants it. I’ll send you the details later - you used to work with us, I’m hoping you’ll have advice.”

So SHIELD wanted Clint to spy on Stark and report back to them. Huh. That was going to be a pain. Gaining Stark’s trust had been difficult enough as it was - this could break it.

“Right, I’ll… look forward to it,” Clint managed.

Tony and Pepper chatted idly, keeping SI talk light around Natasha and Clint. Boring things, stocks, board meetings. Pepper had come for the contract Tony had just finalized to take to legal, and had figured it’d be two birds with one stone for him to meet Natasha in the same visit.

Tony raised an eyebrow at that. Pepper wanting  _ him _ to meet this woman meant things were getting serious, or at least, had the potential to. Tony led Pepper to his office to get the contract, and once they were there, Tony raised an eyebrow. “She mentioned anything about this job she was working to Clint?”

Pepper snickered. “First names, I see?”

Tony blushed lightly. “Smith. Don’t think I’ve heard that name before.” He frowned slightly.

“Well, you’re also not the best with names.” Pepper pointed out, her brow creasing.

Tony shrugged. “Sometimes true.” He gathered up the contract,handing it over to Pepper, watching her slide it in her briefcase.

They returned to the living room, switching back to casual topics like Tony  _ hadn’t _ just been suspicious of Pepper’s girlfriend being a possible spy.

Clint and Natasha’s conversation drifted around from more spy-code to genuine topics - like the kids, or the recent modelling job in Japan Natasha had done for extra cash. The second Pepper and Tony were out of the room, Natasha grinned at Clint.

“You’re head over heels,” she said.

Clint blushed hard. “ _ So are you! _ I’ve never seen you smile at someone so much like that since my sister.”

“Maybe, maybe not,” Natasha said. “Not the point. Point is, you’re totally getting on his good side, and aside from work, I want the details.”

“ _ Natasha! _ ”

As they headed back to the living room, Pepper grinned. “So are you actually going to try to date this one or strictly sexual?”

Tony’s eyes widened. “ _ Pepper. _ ” He complained. “I’m his  _ boss. _ ”

“Didn’t stop you with me.” She retorted.

“Yeah,  _ flirting _ . Nothing more.”

“Yeah, but with him, you definitely want more. You’re not subtle to people who know you.”

Tony rolled his eyes. “Maybe, but again,  _ boss _ . I do know how restraint works, occasionally.”

Pepper snorted. “I give it a week.”

“What, it’s nothing more than a crush, right?” Natasha said, still teasing.

“Yeah, but he’s my boss, Nat,” Clint said. “You don’t sleep with your boss.”

Natasha turned a bit colder at that. “Didn’t stop Killian - he was as good as your boss.”

Clint clenched his hands, looking down. “I know. I… won’t let that happen again, I promise.” He looked at Natasha. “That’s a low blow.”

“You’re used to that from me,” Natasha said. She offered an apologetic smile. “Sorry for bringing that up.”

Clint shook his head, smiling back. “It’s alright.” He looked up as Stark and Pepper re-entered the room. He straightened, loosening his posture. “How’d business talk go?”

Pepper took the opportunity to tease Tony. “I can’t tell what’s harder to read. The contract itself or Tony’s  _ notes _ .”

Tony rolled his eyes fondly, if theatrically. “Tell Morgan it’s payback for last time.” He shot back.

Pepper snorted. “Ah yes, your eternal rivalry over who can give the other the biggest headache.” She noted. “She certainly enjoys the competition.”

It was Tony’s turn to snicker. “Of course she would. If the woman weren’t a lawyer she’d be a graphologist.” He turned to the other two to clarify. “Claire Morgan. She works in the legal department at SI.”

“Sounds like an interesting woman,” Natasha noted idly. She looked at Clint, who looked like he was stuck between wincing and laughing.

“I think I have her beat on giving Stark a headache, with all my pestering to take care of himself,” Clint said.

Pepper blinked, giving Tony a sideways glance. “Have you already figured out how to get him to sleep at a reasonable hour? He’s notorious for just passing out when he can’t keep his eyes open anymore.”

Tony raised an eyebrow. “Define reasonable.”

“For you? Before the sun comes up the next morning.” She snarked back.

Tony made a face. “I guess that counts.”

Clint chuckled a bit awkwardly. “Not particularly? Usually he passes out right after I’ve made sure he’s eaten something. It’s… a challenge - I think… I’ve managed to force him into bed after only 20 hours of consciousness?”

“Worse than Cooper?” Natasha asked, raising an eyebrow.

Clint snorted. “No way. That kid is a pain. You practically have to cuddle him until he falls asleep.”

Tony grinned. “That doesn’t sound too bad,” He teased, “Cuddling into submission.”

Pepper snickered. “The day you figure out how to get him to sleep at a reasonable time during an inventing binge, you might just be due for a promotion.” She offered, (mostly) joking.

“At this point, I’m ready to try cuddling him into submission,” Clint said, sighing. “Or sitting on him until he goes with it.” He grinned at Pepper. “Looks like I’ll have to figure it out then. Last week, I caught him on the end of one before he could get more involved in other things.”

Natasha snorted. “You’re a man of many talents, Clint.”

Tony snorted. “Promotion to what?” He asked, amused.”PA? Babysitter?”

Pepper rolled her eyes fondly. “Professional Stark Wrangler. Sure felt like a babysitter sometimes, though. He already brings you food in your workshop, so maybe it’ll be less a promotion and more just a pay raise.”

Clint let out a light laugh. “It’s fine. I’m already getting paid plenty.” From both Stark and SHIELD, but he wasn’t going to say that.

Natasha glanced at the clock, then smiled at Pepper. “We should probably get going. You have that meeting you told me about in thirty minutes. As boring as it will be, you wouldn’t want to miss it.”

Tony snorted. “Ah yes, the wonders of running a company.  _ No free time _ . You’d  _ think _ it’d be the other way around when you can set your own schedule.” He shrugged. “Have fun with that.” He grinned. “I’m… probably going to head back into my office.”

Natasha stood and turned to Stark. “It’s been nice meeting you.” She offered her arm to Pepper. “Shall we?”

Pepper took Natasha’s offered arm with a smile. “Oh just admit you loathe interacting with anyone who can’t keep up, Tony.” She teased.

Tony snorted. “And here I thought that much was obvious. I must be better at hiding it than I thought.” He grinned at Natasha. “Nice meeting you too. You two should come around for dinner sometime this week, if Miss Potts can find time between episodes of being a badass boss lady.”

Pepper rolled her eyes, but blushed at the compliment nonetheless. “I’ll check my calendar. Will that be all, Mr. Stark?” She asked, grinning at their inside joke.

“That will be all, Miss Potts.” Tony responded, smiling equally as genuinely.

Natasha nodded at Tony before leading Pepper away. She gave Clint a look, silently telling him to stay on task. Clint managed to hide a grimace before he stood and stretched.

“I should go clean up the kitchen,” he said. “You know, since I never took care of the dishes after lunch.”

Tony raised an eyebrow. “So, you know Miss Rushman, then, I take it?” He asked, going for a casual tone. He was sure he didn’t quite make it. “Would you say you have a good idea of her character?”

Clint raised an eyebrow at Tony. “Yeah, I know her. She’s one of my best friends - though, we haven’t had the chance to talk much recently.” He pressed his lips into a thin line, debating what to say. In the end, he settled on, “You know that vacancy in my history and documentation? We met during that time. She helped me and my sister figure stuff out and start a new life.”

Tony blinked, processing what Clint had said. It was interesting, and he definitely wanted to know more, but it wasn’t what he was after right now. Or was it? “So… what kind of person would you say she is?”

“Mm, probably… confident, brave. Loyal to people who deserve it, and she backstabs people who aren’t if it helps her,” Clint said carefully. He eyed Tony for a moment before making his way toward the kitchen. “Go do science stuff instead of poking at my personal life.”

Tony snorted. “That’s comforting.” He responded sarcastically. “If she’s going to be dating Pepper, gotta make sure she’s good enough. Not just anyone is allowed to date her.” He shot back. “Yes, I know she’s a grown woman, but that doesn’t stop me from being protective.”

“Mhm, tell yourself that all you want, boss,” Clint said. He stopped, then turned back. “When do you want me to wake the kid?”

Tony snorted. “If a secondary benefit is learning more about you, I’m certainly not going to complain.” He blinked, considering the question. “I can wake him. Just let me know when it’s time for dinner. You know where the takeout menus are if you don’t feel like making anything.”

Clint nodded. “I’ll go take care of security things then. Remember to take a nap at some point.”

Tony rolled his eyes, retreating back into his office. “I don’t think that’ll be an issue. Paperwork is  _ boring _ .”

“Mhm, sure,” Clint said, going to the kitchen. He had a feeling Stark would get away any chance he had.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some young Izuku shenanigans with Clint and Tony, along with a school interview for Izuku!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait y'all I promise we haven't forgotten about this fic. Finding time to write and edit has been hard. And if you also read What Happens When You Actually Talk To Each Other as well, I promise we haven't forgotten about that one either. Editing the next chapter for that needs more rewriting than this did.   
> Anywho- hope you enjoy!

A few hours later found Clint searching the house for Izuku in a game of hide-and-seek. So far, he knew the specific room, based on Izuku’s giggling, but not the location. The giggling didn’t have any particular source.

Izuku, in the time it had taken for Clint to count, had managed to climb up into the rafters. Clint hadn't bothered to look  _ up _ yet, as Izuku had expected, which is why he was so amused and had to stifle his giggles on occasion.

It hadn't even been particularly  _ hard _ to get up there as tiny as he was. It was just like climbing a tree out in the forest, with less branches. So, he'd quickly spotted a way up and used it to hide. He and Kaede were both very good at hide and seek, so they had a lot of practice.

Clint searched through all the small places in the room again. He searched through Stark’s ungodly amount of pillows - especially for a guest room - under the bed, in every nook and cranny of the closet. Izuku was as good as invisible.

“If I give up, will you come out?” Clint asked with a sigh.

Izuku stifled his giggles again before typing out, "Yes." On his watch for JARVIS to say, not wanting to give his spot away before Clint officially gave up. (Kaede had caught him on that technicality before.) 

Once Clint said he'd given up Izuku laughed again and leaned over so Clint would be able to see him better if he looked up. "I win! I'm up here." He giggled, waving.

“Ah, no wonder I couldn’t find you,” Clint said, moving over to catch Izuku. In all honesty, he had thought about checking the vents but decided against it, since it didn’t seem Izuku would be able to hide in there in such a short counting time. Apparently not, though. That was… something to think about.

"I  _ told _ you I'm good at hide and seek." Izuku said with a grin, before moving to drop down into Clint's arms. Once he was sure Clint was ready to catch him he let himself drop down. "Nobody ever looks  _ up _ for some reason. It makes it really easy sometimes if you can get up high super duper fast."

“Well, usually, children don’t hide in the air ducts,” Clint said, catching Izuku easily. He glanced at his watch, then set Izuku on the floor. “It’s about time to start dinner. Why don’t you go get your dad? He was in his office earlier.”

"Okay." Izuku said with a nod before pausing. "Um… Can I ask you something?"

Clint looked down at Izuku. “Sure. What’s up?”

"Do you like my Dad?" Izuku asked innocently, tilting his head to the side slightly. "You keep smiling at him like you do."

Clint flushed. “Ah, well, that is… um.” He cleared his throat. “You could say that, yes, but he’s my boss, so I can’t say anything.”

Izuku hummed, smiling. "Okay. Secret then." He said, bringing a finger to his lips. "I think Dad likes you too though." He noted before looking towards his watch. "No telling either Jarvis."

Jarvis made a noise that, had he had a human body, would have been called a poor attempt to suppress laughter. “My lips are sealed.” He (attempted to) respond solemnly, with some amount of amusement leaking through.

Clint huffed out a laugh, then shooed Izuku toward Tony’s office. “Alright, you adorable dork, go tell your dad dinner is getting started.”

"Okayyy." Izuku said with a giggle before scurrying off towards Tony's office. Once there, he peeked in through the door. "Dad? Barton-san says dinner is getting started." He said before grinning. "And I won hide and seek! He couldn't find me and gave up."

Tony looked up from the papers spread out on his desk. “Is that so?” He asked, amused. Taking his reading glasses off of his face, then set them and his pen aside and stood. “You beat him, huh? Where did you hide in order to pull that off?”

"I climbed up in the rafters." Izuku answered, happily. "He didn't look up and just kept rechecking the spots in the room he already checked. It was  _ super  _ funny."

Tony snorted, scooping Izuku up and grinning. “In the rafters, huh? You must be a speedy climber.” He praised, ruffling Izuku’s hair. “So I was thinking, after dinner tonight, we should video call your mom. We have an idea we’d like to run past you. Sound good?” He asked, as he started towards the dining room.

Izuku grinned brightly, leaning into his dad's hair ruffling. He nodded, "Sounds good." He paused for a moment before tilting his head, "Is something happening?"

Tony blinked, before grinning at Izuku. “Yeah, something is, but I think it’s something you’ll like. It’s a surprise, though.”

"Okay." Izuku replied. "Surprises are fun." He noted.

Tony snorted. “They can be, yes.” He agreed.

Izuku hummed for a moment before looking at Tony. "Hey Dad? Do you like Barton-san?" He asked, wanting to confirm he was right about them both. "You keep looking at him like you do."

Tony spluttered, stopping in his tracks. “I…” His cheeks began to flush. “Maybe. But he’s basically an employee. I can’t do anything about it. Headache inducing legal jargon reasons.” He said simply. After a moment, he ruffled Izuku’s hair again. “Any more potentially embarrassing questions before we get to the dining room?”

Izuku giggled at Tony's reaction. "Okay. Then it's secret." He said before shaking his head, giggling a bit again. "No that was it."

Tony snickered, and continued the rest of the way to the dining room. Once they were in, he set Izuku down to go pick his own seat.

Izuku hopped into his chosen seat at the table, and sat kicking his feet for all of a minute before he turned to Tony. "Can I go get my notebook?" He asked, "I'll put it away when we start eating."

Tony blinked. “Yeah, sure you can.” He wasn’t sure exactly what Izuku wanted with his notebook, but far be it from him to tell him he couldn’t do something.

Izuku smiled. "Okay, thank you!" He said before scurrying off to his room to grab his newest hero notebook, which currently also had loose notes between the pages. If he had to wait, he wanted to at least work on that a bit.

Tony grinned. “Goofy kid.” He hoped the interview with Xavier later that week went well.

Clint chose that moment to enter the dining room to set the table. He blinked at Stark already being there, then smirked teasingly. “Wow, thought for sure you would’ve fallen asleep at your desk.”

Tony grinned back. “Yeah, I managed to avoid that. Thankfully, I got most of my paperwork done. “Want to join us for a movie night after dinner?”

“You sure? I wouldn’t want to interrupt your time with your kid,” Clint said carefully, scanning Stark’s reaction.

Tony blinked. “He’ll probably invite you himself once he gets back.” He replied. “You won’t be interrupting anything.”

Clint debated it with himself for a minute, then shrugged. “Sure, why not. Could be fun. I’ll probably do my security stuff earlier than usual, then.” He gave Stark a smirk. “Just be sure not to start without me.”

Tony grinned back. “No promises for impatient children. You might lose out on the chance to help pick the movie,” He teased. “It’ll probably be something superhero related, though.”

“Well, I understood that much,” Clint snorted. “I have a nephew around Izuku’s age, and he’s much roudier than Izuku. I meant the actual movie part. I’ll see you for the movie then.” He turned to go back to the kitchen before quickly moving to place a kiss on Tony’s cheek. With a red face, he quickly retreated to the kitchen fully, where he shoved his hands in his face. “ _ Why the fuck did I do that?! _ ”

Izuku hopped back downstairs once he managed to pull his notebook and pen out of his bag. He managed to catch the moment of Clint kissing Tony's cheek, making him have to muffle a snicker. Adults were so  _ silly _ sometimes.

Tony’s entire face went bright red at the kiss. He tried to hide his blush as soon as he saw Izuku, but he realized it was probably too late for that. He decided the best course of action was to pretend nothing had happened, at least to the kid. “Found your notebook?” He asked, his voice cracking  _ only slightly _ .

Izuku nodded, grinning. He held up his notebook. “Yeah, I did.” He hopped back up into his seat and set his notebook down on the table before opening it and taking out his loose notes so he could copy things over properly. Of course, even the loose notes were in his cipher, so only he could read them.

Tony glanced over Izuku’s shoulder casually. “Your mother mentioned a cipher, but I hadn’t seen it yet. It looks like gibberish, a little, but I’m guessing you can read it?” He grinned. “It’s definitely a good idea. What sort of things do you write about?”

Izuku nodded slightly, humming. “It took a bit for me to be able to remember without using the key, but I can read it fine now.” He glanced up at Tony and smiled, “Heroes mostly!” He answered, picking up the notebook so Tony could see the cover before he set it down. “It’s um… notes about their quirks and how they use them. And all the moves they use in fights. Oh! And their strengths and weaknesses.”

Tony listened curiously. “So you watch heroes on TV and online and write about them?” He asked. Izuku was still a kid, he hadn’t seen a lot of them in person, right? Wasn’t Japan’s crime rate fairly low? At least compared to other countries.

Izuku nodded, "Mostly. Especially for the  _ big  _ heroes like All Might. Some I've gotten to see up close though. Just lower ranking local ones though." He smiled sheepishly, "The ones who patrol around my school recognize me really easy now."

Tony blinked. “Just how much trouble do you get into, exactly, if local heroes recognize you at  _ six _ , kiddo?” He asked, in slight disbelief.

“Not  _ that _ much.” Izuku muttered, embarrassed. “Just uhm… like… once a week or so at least I see them. And when there’s a villain attack around that area they always say I must have been nearby as joke.” He added, “ Which I am a lot but…” He blushed, “They don’t even know my name really. They just know when they see me.”

Tony raised an eyebrow. “Once a  _ week _ ?” He repeated. “That’s pretty often.” He sighed. “You don’t follow them around for the sake of your notes, do you?” He asked, though he was fairly sure the answer was yes.

Izuku nodded slightly. "I told you earlier I do it sometimes… but I'm always  _ super  _ careful. And I'll start taking Jarvis and making sure Kacchan knows at least." He said. "But I run into them even when I'm not looking a lot. The um…" He scratched his head anxiously, "The heroes like to call me... Um… Villain Catnip. I just… attract them?"

Tony groaned. “You did, didn’t you.” He sat down by Izuku, and ruffled his hair. “Well I guess it’s good that you want to be a hero, then, if you’re already villain catnip. Maybe that should be your hero name.” He teased. Though Xaviers was definitely sounding better and better now. He’d learn to defend himself there.

Izuku scrunched up his nose. " _ Daaad _ ." He pouted, "That's  _ not _ a good hero name though. Someone'll think I have a quirk that attracts danger. Nobody wants  _ that. _ "

Tony snickered, carrying on with the joke. "What? Nothing wrong with a little truth in advertising. Besides, if you attract the villains to you, you can stop them faster, right?"

Izuku pouted further, "Dad  _ nooo _ . I  _ could _ but attracting the villains means wherever I'd patrol people would be in danger more. And  _ that's  _ not good. I don't want people to be scared of me!" He argued.

"I don't think anyone could be scared of you, Izuku. You're like a fluffy baby bunny." Tony told him, ruffling his hair.

Izuku huffed, "Bunny is better at least." He said before scribbling down some things from the loose pages into his notebook again.

"How about catnip bunny?" Tony teased. "Kinda catchy, I think."

Izuku turned his head towards Tony and squinted at him. "No."

Tony snickered, which dissolved into full out laughter. "You should see your  _ face _ ," he cackled. "I may have to use that. Catnip Bunny."

" _ Nooo. Daaad." _ Izuku whined, reaching out to gently push him. "Don't be  _ meeean. _ "

Tony snorted, ruffling his hair again. "I'm only teasing you, kiddo." He smiled. "So have you had any more ideas for a hero name yet?"

Izuku opened his mouth to reply before shutting it and shaking his head with a frown. "No… I don't have any. Not that'll fit me."

Tony raised an eyebrow. "Can't be worse than  _ catnip bunny _ ." He said lightly. "Come on, let's hear your best All Might themed name. Or your favorite. Either one."

Izuku scrunched up his shoulders. “They’re silly though. I… um… S-Small Might was mama’s favorite.” He said, his face flushing with embarrassment. He had liked the names he came up with, but the other kids laughed at him for them so they didn’t seem as good of an idea anymore.

"Small Might?" Tony repeated, thinking it over. "Yeah, I could see it." He said finally. "Are you thinking about using support items to enhance your strength, then?" He asked, always ready to slide into engineer mode.

“Oh um… maybe? I’m not really sure what I want.” Izuku admitted, “There’s a lot of options for things like that. I dunno what fighting style I’ll even be able to do. Which I kinda need to know for that.” He noted, “Um… I don’t know that I’d be a brawler type really, though? I think I’d need to move quick.”

"You've got time to figure that out. Just remember, your hero name should fit how you plan to fight, at least a little." Tony noted. "If you want to go for speed I'd recommend a fighting style that uses your legs. Hey maybe Bunny is accurate after all."

Izuku laughed slightly. “Maybe. Kacchan calls me bunny sometimes too. They say it’s ‘cuz I hop like the energizer bunny when I get excited sometimes.” He explained. He hummed, “I might actually be better with my legs anyway. But… I won’t know till I learn to fight anyway. I don’t even know how to punch.” 

Tony grinned. “Sounds like ‘Kacchan’s got you pretty well figured out.” He teased. “You’ve got plenty of time to learn to fight properly. Do you want to enroll in some self defense classes back in Japan to look for a style you like?” He asked.

Izuku blinked. “I can do that?” He asked, “I’m not too um… little for that?”

Tony blinked. “Nah. No such thing as too early to learn. As long as your mom is okay with it.” He wasn’t sure why she wouldn’t be, but definitely better to check first.

“Oh, okay. Then um…” Izuku hesitated a moment before nodding, “That’d be good. It’s better to start earlier when you can, right?”

Tony nodded. Indeed it is. While you’re here, J can help research some different kinds of styles you might want to try, too. That sound good?”

JARVIS chimed in at that point. “Sending a message to Young Sir’s mother to obtain her permission for lessons first.”

Izuki nodded again. “Yeah, okay.”

It took Inko a bit of time to see the message before she was even able to respond, but a few minutes later she replied. “If we’re enrolling him in that school, that will likely end up as part of the curriculum anyway. Some extra lessons wouldn’t hurt. That’s fine by me if he wants to try.”

A moment later she added, “Kaede might be a bit jealous though when she finds out.”

Tony couldn’t help but snort at the addition when he checked his phone. J knew that they hadn’t talked with Izuku yet so he didn’t read that message out loud. “Looks like your mom’s given the okay for you to try some different types. She did say your friend might be a bit jealous, though.”

Izuku made a face. "Kacchan prolly will." He thought for a moment. "I'll just have to show them what I learn." He decided. "That way they get the tips too, even if Aunty and Uncle don't let them do it too."

Tony hummed in thought. “There’s an idea.” He agreed. “So do you have any ideas for different types you’d want to start with? Or we can watch some videos of different ones sometime this week to get a feel for what kind looks the most interesting?”

After Clint managed to calm himself down, he finished making dinner, then brought it out to table. He had vaguely heard Izuku and Stark’s conversation about self defence. As he set the dishes down, carefully avoiding Stark’s gaze, he said, “If you want, while you’re here, I could give you some tips on dodging and blocking.”

"I… dunno. Watching videos might help." Izuku said before turning and blinking and Clint before smiling. "Could you? That'd help!" He grabbed his pen and quickly finished transferring the page he had been doing before setting it aside like he said he would when the food came out. Though he set the loose page on top, so he'd remember to throw it away now that it had been transferred in.

Tony’s blush returned with a vengeance when Clint came back into the room, though he tried to act normal. It helped that Clint wouldn’t look at him, so he couldn’t get called out for it. At least  _ by Clint _ . No promises for Izuku, of course. He  _ did _ make sure to thank Clint for making food. He wasn’t a  _ complete _ heathen. Mostly.

Clint gave Izuku a smile. “Yeah. We can start tomorrow.” He made sure everything was ready before sitting down to start eating. He glanced at Stark for a moment, then said, “Your dad was talking about a movie night tonight. Do you know what you want to watch?”

Izuku gasped slightly, " _ Movie?" _ He repeated. "Um… what do we have? I like hero movies. Or spy movies. Spy movies are  _ fun. _ "

Tony grinned at Izuku’s enthusiasm. “What movie do you want to watch? If I don’t have it, JARVIS can probably  _ find _ it for us.” He replied. He wasn’t 100% on what would be considered “child-friendly” so he’d kinda go with whatever Izuku wanted.

“Spy movies are fun, but I’m pretty sure they can be inaccurate,” Clint said. “Cooper likes Spy Kids, for some reason. It’s not terrible but…” He shrugged. “It’s up to you, though.”

"Oh! I've seen those. They… probably aren't." Izuku agreed. "But they're funny. I just really like um…" He pointed at his notebook page, "The secret codes and stuff. And the gadgets. The gadgets are cool too." He hummed before his eyes lit up slightly and he grinned, "Ooo! What about Inspector Gadget?" He asked, "I like that one."

Tony raised an eyebrow. “Inspector… Gadget?” He asked curiously. That wasn’t one he’d heard of. “Sure, why not, I guess.” He shrugged. “So after dinner we can video call your mom, then settle in with some popcorn and watch that. Sound good?”

“Inspector Gadget’s a good one,” Clint said. He shot Stark a teasing smile. “You really should get caught up with kid films. At least then you’ll know what they are. Though, when they watch the same movie over and over, it can get… exhausting.”

Izuku grinned and nodded, "Sounds good!" He looked at Clint and giggled, "I like watching over and over. But mama says that too. So we gotta switch sometimes. She says if DvD's could wear out, I'd do it." He said before finally turning to his food. "Itadakimasu!"

Tony rolled his eyes. “I’m sure I’ll have plenty of time to do just that.” He responded easily, knowing full well he was lying. “So what other movies do you like, then?” He asked, before turning his own attention to his food as well.

“Yeah, sure you will,” Clint said, grinning. He took bites of his food between conversation, waiting to hear Izuku’s answer.

Izuku tilted his head at Tony for a moment before he actually thought about the question. He hummed, "Well… I like musicals? Like… Kacchan and I watch Disney movies together. But I've watched other musicals with Mama." He offered, "And… I watch some… what's it called… rom-coms? With Mama too. We like them. Kacchan thinks they're silly though. The musicals help me learn english a bit better though. 'Cuz I try to sing along."

Tony snorted slightly. “I’m inclined to agree with ‘Kacchan’ on rom-coms.” He admitted. “Never saw the point of them.” He shrugged. “What are your favorite musicals, then?”

"Umm…" Izuku thought for a moment, "It's hard to pick… I liked Annie?" He offered, "And um… I liked the songs from Little Shop of Horrors. But that one was kinda scary. Which… makes sense but um…" He made a face slightly, "I think all the ones I've watched with Mama are my favorites. I just like musicals."

Tony made a noise that  _ definitely _ sounded like poorly-concealed laughter. He knew  _ damn well _ how Howard would have reacted to him liking musicals, but he wasn’t Howard. His son was allowed to like whatever he wanted.  _ Especially _ if it would have Howard turning in his grave like this would. He smiled at Izuku. “Well we might just have to watch some, then, huh?”

“We can explore some musicals together at some point,” Clint said, giving Izuku a grin. “Maybe you can teach me some stuff about it, too.”

Izuku grinned and nodded to Tony, "Yeah! That'd be fun too." He looked towards Clint and bit his lip before grinning further. " _ I'll give you a few drops, if that'll appease-"  _ He sang before giggling slightly and nodding again. "I'm okay with that."

Tony blinked at Izuku, surprised by him singing. “You’ve got a good voice, there, kid.” He commented. He couldn’t help it. He’d never heard Izuku sing before. It was… impressive, to say the least. They’d have to encourage that particular talent.

“That’s very cute,” Clint said, reaching over to ruffle Izuku’s hair. “It  _ is _ really good, though. You should sing more - if you want, at least.”

Izuku blushed, scrunching up his shoulders slightly. "Um… Th-Thanks? I um… do like singing. I can make Kacchan and Mama smile when I do… they really like my voice."

Tony grinned. “And small wonder at that.” He responded, still smiling. “Now hurry up and finish your dinner so we can give your mom a call. She should be waking up soon, I think.” He remarked, turning his attention back to his own food.

Clint also continued eating. When he finished, he looked at Tony and Izuku. “When you finish, I’ll go ahead and wash the dishes.”

"Mama's already up if she texted you back, silly." Izuku said. "Though she's probably still having her morning tea yet." He took another bite and nodded to Clint. "Okay. Tell me if you need help? I help Mama dry them sometimes. Food was yummy though!" He said happily, "You're a good cook, Barton-san."

Tony finished his food quickly. “I’ll help carry them to the kitchen before we make the call.” He offered.

“Thanks, Izuku,” Clint said, giving Izuku a smile. He shook his head at Tony as he began gathering the dishes. “That’s alright, I can take care of it.”

Izuku smiled back before quickly finishing up his food. He picked up his dishes and held them up for whoever to take before looking towards Tony. "Do we call Mama, or is she gonna call Dad?"

Tony smiled at Izuku. “We’re gonna call her. Let’s go to my study so we can use my computer there.” He stood up, unsure if he ought to offer to carry Izuku or let him walk. He had no idea how  _ to _ dad, only how  _ not _ to.

"Okay!" Izuku replied happily. He hopped down from his seat after grabbing his notebook, tucking it under one arm. He then grabbed Tony's hand to more or less pull him to the study, excited to talk to his mom and find out the surprise. "Let's go then! Let's go, let's go!"

Tony grinned helplessly at Izuku’s enthusiasm. He followed the pulls on his hand to his study, where JARVIS already had the call set up on the computer. Tony sat in his chair, and lifted Izuku onto his lap so they could both see, before tapping ‘call’.

Izuku's grin brightened considerably as soon as his mom came on screen. She had her hair down and was drinking her morning tea. With no makeup on either, so Izuku assumed she had the morning off of work that day. "Hi Mama!" Izuku said, waving excitedly.

Inko smiled softly, "Hi, Izu. Hi Tony. You doing good?"

Izuku nodded, "Yeah! I'm great. Being here with Dad is fun." He looked back towards Tony then back at Inko. "What did you wanna talk to me about?"

Tony blinked rapidly at the sight Inko made. He bit the inside of his cheek to try to control his reaction.  _ Fuck _ she was gorgeous. He just  _ knew _ his face was red. Hopefully his concealer hid some of it.

He wanted to jump on the opportunity to direct the conversation, but refrained. He’d let Inko decide how to open this conversation. She knew Izuku better, after all.

"Well, I know you want to spend as much time as you can with your dad, right?" Inko started. "But school kind of gets in the way."

Izuku nodded, "Yeah. I like spending time with him. But…" He frowned slightly, "I can't skip school all the time."

Tony picked up where Inko left off. “So what we were thinking about, was to enroll you in a school in the States. What would you think about spending part of the school year in Japan with your mom, and part here in the States with me?” He offered.

Izuku blinked for a moment, "So… I can go to a school here… so I don't have to keep flying out to see you all the time? Or have to wait for you to visit?" He bit his lip and looked towards the screen.

"If you don't want to, you don't have to Izu. We just thought it would be easier for you that way." Inko said gently, "We just want to make sure you get to spend all the time with your Dad as you want."

"But… I wouldn't get to see you or Kacchan as often." Izuku said quietly. "Um… I…"

"You'd still be able to video call." Inko offered, "And it'd still only be for half the year. You wouldn't be choosing one over another."

Izuku nodded, taking a moment to think. "I… I  _ want  _ to. It sounds like a good idea." He admitted, "It's just um… s-scary."

Tony ruffled Izuku’s hair lightly. “Most new things are. If you decide you don’t like it, then you can go back to school in Japan full time. I promise I won’t be mad or anything.” He said seriously. He smiled. “On the bright side, I  _ did _ get an application interview set up at the school in New York I told you about, Inko. Fortunately, it happens to be this week, if you’d like to join in for the call?”

Izuku turned in Tony's lap so he could hug him. "Okay, Dad. Thank you."

Inko smiled, "Well, that depends on the time it is, considering the time difference. But if I can I will." She replied.

Izuku blinked rapidly and tilted his head up to look at Tony. "The school is… in New York?"

Tony blinked. Oh, that was a thing he’d have to discuss with Izuku, too. “It is. But it’s a good school. If you get accepted, I’m sure I can find a place for us to live outside of the city, or even in it. Then we can come back here for breaks. How does that sound?”

"Oh, okay. That sounds okay then." Izuku replied. He hadn't known how that would work if Tony was still in Malibu and he was in New York. "Um… what do I have to do to get in?"

"Well the head of the school interviews each candidate personally, or at least tries to. If he thinks you'll be a good fit, there's an entrance exam, which is really more of a formality, if you ask me. But as long as you do reasonably well on the exam, you'll be fine. We can run through some practice material after the interview if you want to." Tony had tacked on 'if you ask me', but he also knew Xavier didn't turn away a student that passed his interview, no matter how they fared academically.

"Oh, okay. Um… s-so I just have to… talk to them and they decide if I get to go?" Izuku asked, a bit nervously. He didn't want to mess that sort of thing up. What if the person found out he was quirkless and immediately decided he couldn't go? What would they do then?

"It'll be okay Izu." Inko said gently, "Mainly all it is, is them wanting to see if your personality fits so you get along with the other kids okay. That's all."

Izuku frowned slightly. "But... other kids almost never get along with me. They don't like me." He mumbled.

The corner of Tony's mouth twitched slightly. If it were anyone but Charles Xavier, he might be tempted to make a large "charitable donation" to make sure Izuku got in. He knew very well that was how Howard kept him in that fancy boarding school after each kidnapping attempt on the Stark heir. However, not only would Xavier not take it, but the man had a unique way of making even  _ Tony _ feel guilty for shit like that. He ruffled Izuku's hair fondly. "I'm sure you'll do great there, kiddo. Kids at this school aren't like kids at your current school."

Izuku leaned into the hair ruffling slightly and took a breath. "O-Okay." He said quietly. He was still nervous, but if his parents thought he could do it he'd at least try. "Um… was there anything else you wanted to ask?"

Tony shrugged. "I do admit to being curious about how your mom's day went, but that's all I've got otherwise." He answered, starting to absently play with Izuku's hair, since that seemed to calm him down noticeably.

Inko blinked for a moment, "Oh. Um… Good?" She replied, "Work wasn't terribly exciting yesterday and I have today off, so I'm mostly just getting some cleaning done and relaxing. Nothing really interesting."

Izuku hummed quietly, relaxing to the point of almost forgetting about the interview as Tony played with his hair. He made sure to not let himself start falling asleep though. He still had a movie he wanted to watch. "Did you find anything cool, Mama?" He asked.

Inko laughed slightly before nodding, "I found your note under the couch, yes. So thank you Izu. Though…" She leaned back and looked towards her bedroom. "I found something else in the back of my closet. One second." She said before getting up out of frame for a few moments.

When Inko returned, she leaned into frame so only her head was showing. "Any guesses, Tony?"

Tony blinked. He kept playing with Izuku's hair, raising an eyebrow at the screen. "Hm. Is it that dress you wore on our date so long ago?" He asked curiously. He wasn't sure what it could be besides clothing, and he hadn't bought her anything recently in that department.

Inko snorted, "No, not the dress. Something else you might recognize though." She said, pausing for a moment before stepping into frame, wearing a worn black leather jacket she had on when she first met Tony. She grinned, "Haven't worn it since Izu was born but I still kept it around. Still fits, which is nice."

Tony couldn't help but stare at the screen blankly. Hot Damn, that jacket still looked amazing on her!

A minute or so must have passed, because JARVIS spoke up. "Careful Sir, or you might start catching flies."

Tony coughed, shaking his head once rapidly to clear it. "It looks good." He said, rather lamely in his own opinion.

Both Inko and Izuku giggled at Tony's reaction. "Why thank you, Tony." She said with a teasing tone of voice. "I might start bringing it out again. Mitsuki would probably get a kick out of it. I think I'll leave the piercings out though." She said with a small laugh. "I don't even know if I could put them back in anymore, anyway." She noted. 

Izuku tilted his head, "Pierce… Like your earrings, Mama?"

Inko nodded, "I used to have more than my ears pierced. You don't need to worry about that though Izu."

Tony tried very hard not to think of what Inko had looked like with her piercings in with his son in his lap. That was the last thing he wanted to explain to his child right now. He frantically thought of decidedly not-sexy things until his reaction had calmed down. Afterwards, he was able to respond normally. "Yeah, your mom definitely used to have more than her ears pierced." He agreed with a grin. "Wouldn't mind seeing some of those make a reappearance."

Inko hummed, "Maybe at some point." She sighed and started taking off her jacket, "I should probably get back to cleaning up now. Have fun with your Dad okay Izu? I love you."

"Love you too Mama." Izuku replied happily.

Tony grinned at the idea of some of those piercings coming back. Still, he gave a small smile before they hung up. "Have a good day, Inko." He offered with a small, genuine smile.

Once the call ended, Tony hummed. "J, see about getting an appointment at her favorite spa today. On me of course."

"Of course, sir." JARVIS answered, setting about messaging Inko to get the necessary information from her.

"I think Clint should be done with his 'security stuff' soon. What say we go get some popcorn started?"

Izuku grinned and nodded, pushing himself off of Tony's lap before grabbing his hand again to pull him to the kitchen.

/// March 19th, 2010

A little bit later into the week, it was almost time for Izuku's interview with Charles Xavier. Izuku was more than nervous again, and wasn't able to get himself to relax. Even playing the game Jarvis had gotten on his watch for him wasn't helping him.

He fidgeted by himself in his room for a bit, but when he realized he wouldn't be able to calm down by himself he headed towards Tony's room clutching his All Might plush to his chest. Tony was still getting ready in his bathroom, so he peeked through the open door for a moment. "Um… D-Dad?"

Tony, in the middle of washing his face, hummed inquisitively without opening his eyes. He didn't want to get soap in them, after all. "What is it, kiddo?" He asked, before splashing his face to get rid of the facial wash he was using.

"I um… I…" Izuku stammered. He tried to take a deep breath, but it wasn't really working. Tears pricked at the corners of his eyes as he tried to speak again, but speaking seemed too hard at that moment. He swallowed thickly before turning and running down the hall, unsure what else to do. He was scared and nervous and just feeling completely overwhelmed.

Tony heard Izuku running away and quickly dried his face. He chased after the child, catching up quickly. "Izuku, hey," he scooped the child up. "Gotta give me a second in the mornings, kiddo." He said easily, pulling him into a gentle hug.

Izuku whimpered and tucked his head into Tony's chest. He took a little bit to try and calm down now that his Dad was holding him, and found it much easier to relax even just hearing the faint hum of the arc reactor. "S-Sorry." He said barely above a whisper after a few moments.

Tony cradled Izuku close. "Hey, it's okay. It's okay kiddo." He stroked Izuku's hair absently. "What's wrong?"

"I… I don't know." Izuku sniffled. "I j-just… 'm scared." He replied, clutching onto Tony's shirt so he couldn't pull away.

Tony continued to hold onto Izuku. "Dunno if you can hear my heartbeat over this annoying thing, but you can try. Might help you calm down." He offered. "Nervous?"

Izuku nodded gently. After a moment he pulled one hand away to rub at his tears. "Don't… Don't wanna mess up." He admitted quietly.

Tony hummed. "I can see why you'd be nervous. You don't need to be, though. I've met Professor X. He's a good guy. Not scary at all."

Tony headed down towards the office so they could get ready for the call. "Do you want to eat before or after?"

"P-Professor  _ X? _ " Izuku squeaked. If that was who he thought it was that made it even  _ more _ important not to mess up. He shook his head, "Not hungry. Stomach feels icky. I don't wanna throw up."

Tony hummed slightly. “Alright. We can have a big breakfast afterwards, okay?” He suggested. “J, can you check if Inko is available to join the call this morning?”

“Indeed.” JARVIS answered, before messaging her to do just that.

Izuku nodded, "O-Okay."

Inko responded back quickly, saying that she could. Though she may not stay for the whole call depending on how long it went for as it was late in Japan and she would have to sleep eventually.

Tony reached the office, snickering at Inko’s response. Once there, he sat at his desk, still holding Izuku, and let Jarvis connect a call to Inko. “It’ll be just fine, kiddo. It’s just his way of getting to know the kids that might attend his school, since he’s also a teacher there.”

Izuku took deep breaths while he held onto Tony. He wasn't so sure it'd really be okay, but there wasn't anything he could do about that.

Inko joined in the call quickly, and blinked at Tony, seeing that he wasn't wearing any concealer that day so she could clearly see all the freckles dotting his face. She cleared her throat and put her attention on Izuku, hoping she wasn't blushing. "Izu? You doing alright?"

"Mhm. 'M okay. Dad's helping." Izuku replied quietly.

Tony ruffled Izuku’s hair. “Had an attack of the nerves, a bit” He told Inko, keeping a firm hold on Izuku so he could try to relax. “Even if, for some insane reason, it  _ doesn’t _ go well, it won’t be the end of the world.” He reminded Izuku. “But I don’t think you’ll have anything to worry about.” He raised an eyebrow at Inko’s reaction, but didn’t otherwise comment.

Izuku nodded slightly again and started to relax against Tony. He hummed quietly as he listened to the sound of the arc reactor. He was starting to get more and more used to hearing it instead of a heartbeat when he was up against Tony's chest. It was sort of soothing now.

"How long till the Professor is supposed to join for the interview?" Inko asked, making herself look at Izuku instead of Tony for the moment.

Tony checked the time. “Should be in the next half an hour or so.” He said quietly.

Just then, JARVIS piped in. “It appears the professor is online, sir. I’ve sent him an invitation to join the call when he is ready to do so.”

“Thanks J.” Tony answered, continuing to play with Izuku’s hair.

As they waited for Xavier to join the call, Inko found her eyes drifting back to Tony's face. Why did he have to be so handsome? Inko knew there was probably zero chance of anything actually happening between them, so the fact that he was  _ still _ so attractive was annoying to say the least. "Making me want to kiss all the freckles on his stupid handsome face. This is unfair." Inko mumbled almost inaudibly. 

Just then Xavier joined the call, wearing the helmet that allowed him to use Cerebro. "Hello Mr. Stark." He said before looking down at Izuku. "This is Izuku I presume?"

Izuku tensed slightly before turning in Tony's hold. He nodded, "Mhm, I'm Izuku." He responded shyly in English, glad he'd been practicing so much. "N-Nice to meet you sir."

Tony raised an eyebrow at Inko’s muttering, but just as he opened his mouth to respond, and ask her what she was talking about, Xavier joined the call. He wasn’t about to say anything in front of someone outside the three of them, so he switched to a slight smile instead. “Hello Professor.” He answered, letting up on messing with Izuku’s hair, but keeping an eye on him in case that made his anxiety spike. “Yeah, this is Izuku. And his mother, Inko, though she’s in Japan at the moment” He offered, by way of explanation.

"Hello." Inko said simply.

"It must be quite late over there then, yes?" Xavier said.

Inko nodded, "Yes it is. I may have to leave the call at some point to sleep depending on how long it takes, but I wanted to be here for as much as I could."

"Then I suppose we should get started." Xavier noted before putting his attention back on Izuku, who was trying hard not to fidget or start biting his nails. He took note of the nervousness, and offered a small smile to the child. "How about I introduce myself first? Then you can have a turn. I'd like to get to know you a little." 

"O-Okay." Izuku replied.

"I am Professor Charles Xavier, and I am in charge of Xavier's School for Gifted Children." Xavier started, "I manage the whole school along with the X-Men."

Izuku swallowed thickly, realizing he'd been right about what school Tony was trying to enroll him in. He sat up a little straighter, tense.

"Mostly with the use of my quirk, and this." Xavier continued, tapping the side of his helmet. It didn't escape his notice the way Izuku's eyes flicked up slightly, likely to look at the support item, his eyes sparkling with interest for a moment. Xavier’s smile widened ever so slightly, it seemed the young Stark was also interested in that sort of technology. That could be a way to get him to open up and relax.

"It's called Cerebro. And it's quite powerful. It does a number of things, but the main thing it does for me is enhance my telepathic quirk to allow for a  _ much _ larger range of use. Which would be dangerous if I wasn't prepared to use it." Xavier explained. "Normally, my radius only allows for around a mile at most. But with this…" He shut his eyes to reach out with his mind to find Izuku, which was simple enough for him since he knew where to look.

" I can even say hello to you." Xavier said within Izuku's mind.

Izuku gasped, covering his mouth. Instantly his mind started to race with questions on how Xavier's quirk really worked, along with how Cerebro worked and could be used. Though, due to the speed of Izuku's thoughts it effectively kicked Xavier out of his mind as it overwhelmed him, somehow even faster than when he read Tony's mind on a day he was sober.

Xavier winced before letting out a small laugh. "Well, you are most certainly a Stark." He noted.

Tony watched the interaction with no small amount of amusement. When Xavier reacted, he bit the inside of his cheek so he wouldn't laugh. He knew Xavier didn't often try to read his mind because of the sheer speed it went. He guessed the same was likely true for Izuku. If that was the case, it all but confirmed Izuku had a mental quirk, just like he did.

"Careful not to give yourself a headache, there, Professor." He remarked, smirking.

"I'll be alright." Xavier replied calmly, "I exited quickly. You may want to look into that, however. Update his files." He noted, glancing at Izuku's records and seeing that it listed him as quirkless still. With the speed of his thoughts rivaling his father's, he was certain the child had some form of a mental quirk.

Izuku looked at the screen with worry. "Did I hurt you somehow? I'm sorry."

"No, don't worry." Xavier replied gently.

"What… do you mean by update his files?" Inko asked.

Tony ruffled Izuku's hair some more. "The Professor is an old man," he tried to reassure Izuku. "He knows when to back out before it causes anything." He glanced over at Inko's screen, then looked back at the Professor. "He's like me, I'm guessing from your comment?" He asked, mostly to confirm. Apparently he'd been right after all, not that he'd say it like that.

"Correct." Xavier confirmed. "Izuku's thoughts move quite a lot faster than your average human's. Possibly even faster than yours Mr. Stark. Though that would be difficult to confirm." He looked towards Inko on the screen. "Mental quirks are hard to check for in cases like theirs, but I am almost certain that would be the cause."

Inko's eyes widened, "So he does actually…"

"I- you are saying I have a quirk?" Izuku repeated. His breathing accelerated slightly and he tilted his head up to look at Tony, then back at the screen. "B-But th-the doctor…" He muttered.

"The doctor gave us bad information Izu. I'm so sorry." Inko said gently, keeping herself calm and wishing for all the world she wasn't on the other side of the world at that moment so she could pull her son into her arms and console him.

Tony pulled Izuku into a hug instead, since his mother couldn't. "Looks like you do, kiddo." He said softly. He let Izuku bury his face if he wanted to, but the glint in his eye would tell anyone familiar with it that a certain doctor on the other side of the world was about to find himself neck-deep in hot water. The good thing about Izuku being with him was that they could spend some time finding (healthy) coping mechanisms to help Izuku slow his thoughts down so he didn't get overwhelmed.

Izuku took a moment to tuck his head against Tony's chest, sniffling quietly as he processed. He took a moment to relax, before remembering they  _ were _ doing an interview. And he turned his head so he could look at the screen, while still curling into his father's embrace. Xavier was waiting patiently it seemed, but he didn't want to take too long. Especially since his mom still needed to sleep. 

"Um… Should…" He took a breath and rubbed some of the tears away. "Should I take my turn now?"

Xavier hummed slightly, "If you're up to it. Take your time."

Tony returned to messing with Izuku's hair, especially right now since he clearly needed it after that revelation. He looked over at Inko, raising an eyebrow, wanting to make sure  _ she _ was okay, too.

Inko noticed Tony raising an eyebrow at her and shook her head, mouthing. "I'm fine. Don't worry."

Izuku nodded to Xavier and relaxed slightly as Tony started playing with his hair again. "Um… what do I start with?"

"What do you like to do for fun?" Xavier offered.

"Oh! That's easy. Um… I like playing heroes with my friend Kacchan." Izuku started. "Or exploring with them in the forest. We go on adventures."

"That does sound quite fun." Xavier replied.

"Um… When it's just me though, I like taking notes? O-On heroes. Their quirks and support items." Izuku added. "I um… thought it would help? And it's fun. I try to guess how a hero will stop a villain sometimes, or how they could have done it quicker." He rambled, "Sometimes heroes can be goofy, and use their quirks too much. A lot of them do. When fighting without it would've been better. It's weird. But heroes still stop them all the time! It's fun to watch."

Tony listened to the conversation without commenting. He knew most of this, and figured the analytical approach would probably be impressive, given that he was only 6, almost 7 and committed like this to being a hero.

"Thinking about it like that certainly would help." Xavier noted, "Being a hero is what you want to do then, yes? Stop all the villains?"

Izuku nodded slightly, "I wanna be able to smile like All Might. And make other people smile too." He said with a small smile himself. "I gotta be able to stop the villains to help. But I just wanna help save people."

"That's very brave of you." Xavier noted, "Stepping in can be hard sometimes though you know. Even stepping in to stop a bully."

"I know. I've had to help with bullies before." Izuku said, "Makes Kacchan upset sometimes though. 'Cause I kinda um… move? And just try to stop them. Makes the bullies go after me instead which isn't fun. But the other kids don't get hurt anymore that way." He said, trying to find the right words to explain. "It just makes Kacchan upset when I do that and get hurt. But… it's the right thing? And I don't have to think. Just move."

Tony blinked, noticing that Izuku was struggling a bit. "You react first, think later?" He offered. "You've got a hero's instinct already." He teased.

Izuku nodded, "Yeah that!"

"Definitely what you would call a heroes instinct." Xavier agreed with a smile. "You can't teach someone to react like that. Most will hesitate or freeze. You can however teach someone how to handle those situations without getting themselves hurt."

"So… it's a good thing?" Izuku asked.

"It's dangerous right now, but yes. Once you learn to handle yourself in those situations it will be a good thing." Xavier assured him. "All you need is a little help getting you on the right track to learn how."

Tony smiled, and nodded in agreement with the older man. He made a mental note to bring up a few things with Inko having to do with this conversation, though.

Izuku grinned happily. "It'll be hard, but fun. I wanna do my best."

Xavier looked towards both parents on the screen. "Your son is quite the interesting young boy." He noted, "If you are able, you can take a tour of campus before having him take our entrance exam."

Izuku blinked, "Wait… so…" He looked up at Tony and back at the screen, "I… Um… I'm… okay then?"

Unable to resist a chuckle, Tony bit the inside of his lip to try to muffle it. "Sounds like it." He said softly. "What'd I tell you, kiddo? Nothing to worry about." He grinned a bit wider. "Now the easy part. Cramming for an exam." He joked.

He looked up at Xavier. "Is there a set date for it, or is it on an individual basis?" He asked, already planning ahead to try to make sure Inko could see the campus with them.

"No set date, really. It's on an individual basis. Just let me know what day you plan on coming through and we'll set you up with a student guide." Xavier said simply. "Obviously the sooner the better though."

Tony nodded, looking to Inko. "Your call. I can rearrange my schedule around whenever you can get the time off work." He offered. "Gotta make sure the campus gets Mom's stamp of approval too, right Izuku?" He asked.

Izuku nodded with a smile, "Yeah."

"Alright. I'll look into when I can get some time off next then. See how soon I can." Inko replied.

Tony nodded. "Seems fair." To Xavier, he offered, "We'll send a handful of possible dates through Jarvis once we figure out details, and we'll go with whichever one works best?"

Xavier nodded, "Alright, see you then."

Once Xavier left the call Izuku turned and hugged Tony. "When should I start studying? It won't be that hard. But earlier is better."

Tony hugged him back with a grin. "Sooner is probably better. You'll probably be starting there either this school year or next, so I'll have J pull up topics you'll be covering a few years down the line and we'll see how you do with that. Sound like a plan?" He asked. "We can start tomorrow. We've already got plans for today." He conveniently hadn't told Izuku exactly what he was planning for them for that day yet. He hoped Izuku would like it.

Izuku tilted his head slightly, "Plans? Okay."

Inko yawned. "Alright, well I'm off to bed. Love you Izu. Night."

"Love you Mama. Sleep good." Izuku replied.

"Goodnight, Inko." Tony added, waving slightly before disconnecting the call. "Alright, kiddo, go get ready to go. We're going on a trip for those plans I mentioned." He teased, giving Izuku one more quick squeeze and a hair ruffle before setting him down.

Izuku nodded. "Okay. I'll go get my stuff then." He replied before scampering off. Excited to see what Tony had planned.


End file.
